Marvel Comics: The Pre-War Years (1939–1941), Part 1: Overview

Marvel Comics #1 was published August 31, 1939. World War II would start the next day with the Nazi invasion of Poland. It would take the direct attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor to formally bring the US into the war. These stories largely take place between the two events.

Reading List

  • All Winners Comics #1 – #3
  • Captain America Comics #1 – #9
  • Daring Mystery Comics #1 – #7
  • Marvel Comics #1
    • Marvel Mystery Comics #2 – #26
  • Mystic Comics #1 – #7
  • Red Raven Comics #1
    • The Human Torch #2 – #6 (includes two #5s)
  • Sub-Mariner Comics #1 – #4
  • USA Comics #1 – #2
  • Young Allies Comics #1 – #2

General Developments

  • The Marvel Universe begins, with iconic heroes Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America introduced.
  • The first few titles are anthology comics. Later titles tell longer stories and have only 2-3 characters, with less rotation.
  • Superheroes and detectives (some mix of private, amateur, costumed) are the most common heroes; slightly less so at the beginning, but it seems Marvel decided they’re what the readers liked and figured they’d give the people what they want. Marvel Mystery Comics featured jungle opera (Ka-Zar) and western (Masked Raider) as regular features, and science fiction and war titles – and, of course, science fiction war titles – were fairly common as well.
  • World War II rages in Europe, and becomes increasingly prominent in the comics.
  • Human Torch gets a kid sidekick in Toro, and Captain America starts with one in Bucky.

Title by Title

  • Marvel (Mystery) Comics started with a core five characters (Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Angel, Ka-Zar, and the Masked Raider). Issue #3 would introduce two new characters, the Ferret and Electro, who would provide a stable lineup that would occasionally make substitutions (Terry Vance for the Ferret in #10, the Vision for the Masked Raider in #13, and the Patriot for Electro in #21).
  • Daring Mystery Comics never had a stable lineup, twice throwing out the entire starring cast from the previous issue. Only Trojak and Monako, Prince of Magic appeared in more than half the issues.
  • Mystic Comics had two eras, issues #1 – #4 and issues #5 – #7. Blue Blaze, Flexo the Rubber Man, and Dynamic Man were regulars of the first set, then Black Marvel, Terror, and Blazing Skull in the second. Only Black Widow appeared in both eras, and she only appeared three times.
  • Red Raven Comics would have been a fourth anthology series. The second issue had an all-new lineup of characters, led by Marvel Mystery Comics‘ stars Human Torch and Sub-Mariner and renamed for the former. Issue #3 would ditch everyone but its stars (saying farewell to Falcon and Fiery Mask, looking for a new home after Daring kicked them out), but the Patriot would debut in issue #4 for a two-issue run before moving over to Marvel Mystery Comics. The second issue #5 was all one story pitting the Torch against the Sub-Mariner.
  • Captain America Comics featured several stories starring Captain America, and backup stories with Hurricane (who’d also appeared as Mercury in Red Raven Comics #1) and Tuk the Cave-boy. “Headline” Hunter joined the lineup in issue #5, and Father Time would replace Tuk with issue #6.
  • Sub-Mariner Comics has an entirely stable lineup, with all four issues having Sub-Mariner and Angel stories.
  • All-Winners Comics launched with the big four heroes (Human Torch, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and Angel), plus Black Marvel from Mystic Comics. Black Marvel and Angel would bow out after the first issue for Whizzer (introduced in USA Comics #1) and Destroyer (introduced in Mystic Comics #6), and that lineup would carry over to issue #3.
  • Young Allies gave Captain America and Human Torch’s sidekicks, Bucky and Toro, a chance to take the lead of a group of kid heroes.
  • USA Comics featured Mister/Major Liberty, Defender, Rockman, Jack Frost, and Whizzer, plus backup stories.

Observations

  • Back when I was reading, a standard issue was 32 pages (not counting covers), divided between 22 pages of content and 10 pages of ads. (The numbers may be slightly off, and I absolutely forget how things like the letters pages, Bullpen Bulletins, and subscription page counted, but it’s a good basis for comparison.) The ratio stayed the same for longer issues. These comics are 64 pages, with only a few ads – often just the inside covers and back cover, and any ads in the comic itself are generally for other Marvel titles or the Sentinels of Liberty. And they cost a dime – even adjusted for inflation, it’s less than I was paying in 1993. Some things that could have driven the prices and number of ads up: better quality paper and ink, better pay for writers/artists, increased demand, general corporate moneymaking…
  • These early stories would display very little interconnectedness. Namor and the Human Torch have fought each other a few times, and one of those issues brought in Angel and even Ka-Zar. The Young Allies bind Captain America and the Torch together via their sidekicks, Bucky and Toro (and popping up in the end when the Young Allies have gotten over their heads and need the grown-ups to rescue them). But other than these, the stories are largely independent – sometimes obviously set in different worlds, but even when there’s no reason they couldn’t coexist with the bigger heroes, there’s little to no indication they do.
  • Most of the main characters are white men. Women largely exist in a few common roles: love interests, damsels in distress/victims, the occasional femme fatale. Even Betty Dean was introduced as a fake damsel to get Namor’s attention. There have been exactly three female leads: Zara of the Jungle, Black Widow, and Silver Scorpion. Non-whites have it worse, lucky to be depicted as human in intelligence and appearance. Ka-Zar was seen as a god by the African natives. Whitewash Jones of the Young Alies is such a racist caricature it’s hard to believe it would fly in the early 1940s, let alone today. Black Marvel’s origin story, a white man who was the only one who could pass a Native American tribe’s trials to be their champion, would certainly raise eyebrows nowadays. And America’s heading to war after a sneak attack from Japan. I can’t imagine the comics will be kind to the Japanese.

Next: Meet the heroes.